Niger to develop 200MW coal plant, 27MW solar plants – Official

Niger is on track to nearly double power production in the next six years, a senior official said on Monday, a development that could boost industry in one of the world’s poorest countries.

The government is in talks with three Chinese companies to develop a 200 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in the centre of the country by 2024, said Salifou Gado, a head of department head at Niger’s Energy Ministry, without giving the cost.

“It’s an integrative project that will allow us … to create an interconnected network with Nigeria,” Gado said on the sidelines of a meeting of West African power producers.

The government also plans to open a 7 MW solar power plant by the end of the year, and another in 2020 with about 20 MW of capacity. The three projects in total would in six years add 227 MW of power to a grid that now supplies about 250 MW.